embassy services rendered to americans want to travel abroad, especially invest abroad or establish a business abroad. there seems to be an american aversion to going to the embassy, using the embassy, even calling the embassy or assistance. but they are there for your assistance. the one in saudi arabia, about 15 years ago, was number one worldwide in terms of the effectiveness providing effective successful profitable business opportunities for americans in saudi arabia. it's pretty much that weight in egypt and elsewhere, increasingly in the united arab emirates also. >> if i could just echo john's comments having run and embassy commercial operation in three locations in saudi, i came in as

ambassador having spent my entire career in the private sector and had no idea of the resources and the capabilities that the embassy actually had on hand and could offer to american companies. it sort of iran's counter to the old joke that we are the government and we're here to help. in this case it actually is absolutely true. >> on that note we have run out of time. please help me thinking the panelists today. [applause] >> you're watching c-span2 with politics and public affairs, wiki's feature live coverage of the u.s. senate. on weeknights watch key public policy events. every week and the latest nonfiction authors and books on booktv. you can see past programs and get our schedules at our website, and you can join the conversation on social media sites.

>> democratic freshman congresswoman kathy hochul faces a challenge from republican chris collins. congresswoman coal-fueled clear the represents new york's 26th district that is running an the 27th because of redistricting. mr. collins is in erie county executive. their hour-long debate comes to us courtesy of ynn-tv. >> welcome to the special presentation from ynn. i'm liz benjamin spent over the next that we will be bringing you a debate between democratic congresswoman kathy hochul and republican challenger chris collins. nenew york the 27th congressional district. this is a larger district that includes or links, and wyoming counties. budgetary, niagara and ontario counties and even a little bit of monroe county spent the format is straightforward. we will ask questions of the candidates, then they have one minute to respond to it upon

about 45 seconds to rebut them an additional 30 seconds will be given to candidates at our discretion. but also the candidates ask each other question and we will have a lightning round where we will ask questions with yes or no answer. we start out with a 60-second opening statement from each candidate. congresswoman chu one a.c.o.r.n. toss trying to thank you for posting this and joining us today. one year ago republicans, democrats and independents honored me with their vote and sent me to washington to be there independent voice. i have worked hard to keep that promise and here's what i've done. cut metal -- taxes on middle-class families and small businesses that create jobs, and over burdensome regulations on our farmers. make sure we keep our promise to seniors on medicare, as well as make sure we support our military and support the niagara falls -- also have to make sure we balanced the budget the right

way. i've been so blessed to live the american dream. just like my mom and dad by starlight together in a trailer in the shadows of the steel plant. i promise to continue to be strong independent voice and a fighter to make sure everyone in this great country has the same shot i take it that's my commitment to you. collins: well, good evening. i'm chris collins. i'm running for congress to do my part to help restore the promise of the american dream for our children and our grandchildren. our country is at a tipping point. my granddaughter turned one just last saturday. she has $52,000 of debt. federal debt at her feet. my two kids in college are worried they're not going to have a job when they graduate. that's unacceptable. my 85 year-old mom is worried she's going to lose her medicare advantage.

i know better and i think you know better, we have to grow our way to prosperity. we need more jobs in america with a strong economy. let's spending in washington with a balanced budget. energy independence and the repeal of obamacare. thank you for tuning in, and i'm confident at the end of this debate i was earned your vote on november 6 to go to washington as your member of congress, fighting for a bright future for our children and grandchildren. thank you. >> let's get right to the question. the first question i have is for the congresswoman. there's a new proposal to build a stadium and complex for the buffalo bills along the city's waterfront which is presented to the council on tuesday. the teams currently at the stadium expires in 2013. you think a downtown stadium after the proposal patient as a viable alternative? hochul: i've been intrigued by the idea. i'm not sure that's going to be the right location.

we have to make sure it's get the least sign. certainly when chris collins is county executive is an opportunity put this to bed and resolve the but we are come down to the 11th hour now and we have to make sure that we take care of ensuring that the buffalo bills stay here in west new york. that's priority one. secondly, will have to step up and help them. the stadium is becoming obsolete. we need to make sure that they got the best resources here in this community because our identity is linked to the buffalo bills. even when they have the ups and downs, i feel very confident that it is a regional resource, that we have to protect. but i thin think the idea that e stadium downtown may be more than we're going to be interested in doing at this ti time. >> do you think downtown stadium is a possibility? treachery now, casey. i was in constant contact with them as we're working through getting into this year on lease negotiations. the fact of the matter is $1.4 billion, we don't have,

it's much like washington. were always talking spend, spend, spend. our coverage -- our cupboards are bare quite frankly it's ridiculous to talk about a $1.4 billion deficit. the bills the stadium is about as good as as it was when it was built. will have to do some upgrades but there is $1.4 billion sitting around for a stadium at the bills have already said they don't want spent quick follow-up. you think of in the of the local economy that the buffalo market can still support an nfl team? hochul: absolutely. absolutely i believe in his team. this team is important to our local identity. not just in buffalo but rochester. they do the summer training at st. johns fisher. that's an important economic catalyst all over the district. sunday morning i was at the restaurant in warsaw, the place was packed with people heading to the bills game. we've got to keep the filter.

spent is it feasible? collins: absolutely. what we got here is a great regional market. we sell out the stadium, the sport of the fans is second to none even the we have been 13 years not in the playoffs. i know that the bills want to stay here. they need what i think a reasonable improvements to the stadium and i'm confident the state will come through on that part and the county will continue to support him to expenses and some capital as we move forward. it surely up to the government to make sure the money is there to improve the stadium as the bills are requesting. >> obviously the buffalo bills are very important economy of western europe but i think we're clear on that but economy is more of course than just football. new york's jobless rate fell for the first time elite and 11 months, in september. yet it remains well above the national average, and in western europe the rate is up slightly. we've been talking at this for years how to fix the economy in western europe.

what is one thing, mr. collins, in your opinion that needs to be done to turn around this long-standing issue? had he proposed to achieve that if you're elected to congress? collins: it is about jobs. i'm the only get here u.s. spent mostly entire to recreate and jobs, 6-under jobs and families are relying on. first thing we have to repeal obamacare. obamacare is a wet blanket in the economy today with trillions of dollars of taxes, fees and we are faced with government takeover of health care threatening my 85 year old mom medicare advantage. we have to get rid of that. went to grow our economy 4% a year. that means reducing the marginal tax rate on the dairy farmers, the crop farmers from the small business people in the area and by reducing the marginal rates them more money on april 15 to invest in create jobs. when you take money away like medical device tax that's in obamacare, when i was in buffalo center they said that's going to

cost $1 million a year that would otherwise be used to grow their company and create jobs. repeal obamacare, repeal obamacare, repeal obamacare. >> just be clear, is it repealing of so-called obamacare, take using a burden off existing businesses. you believe it would also grow business, encourage people to create more jobs without that health care law? collins: out through the. right now businesses are sitting on more cash that they want to use to invest more jobs. but with the uncertainty of the deficit, coupled with the uncertainty on obamacare where if you're at 50 employees your subject to obamacare, if you don't have 50 employees you're not. so yes right now obamacare is stopping companies from investing because they don't want what they see with a government takeover telling them what benefits to provide. so obamacare is not on stopping jobs today, but was obamacare companies are not going to expand spent congresswoman?

hochul: ugly the question was what do we do to get this economy going. >> correct 21st of all government doesn't create jobs. we create conditions for them to double do what they do best and that is a create jobs. first thing we need to do is make sure young people have the skills they need for the 21st century. jobs are going unfilled, mind-boggling that young people are graduating without the skills to step into a dance manufacturing jobs and our employers are begging for jobs. so we can do so much more, but i don't think obamacare is in place even when this economy started us down to you complain obamacare for everything, but we can blame them for the bills loss on sunday. let's deal with realities. >> mr. collins? collins: deal in reality, a plus .% unemployment under obama's policies you support. 44 straight months.

the last three months less jobs created in september than august, less in august than in july. this economy is not moving forward. people have given up even looking for work. we have trillion dollar a year deficit. the deficit -- the debt from 10 to $16 trillion under obama. when is enough enough? i believe america knows enough is enough on november 6. >> we're going to get to deficits and taxes, too, but i think that kc has a local question that is quite important. >> next question goes to the congresswoman, a topic you often because. the air reserve station is the largest employer in the county. if a budget deal in congress isn't reached by january, could this threaten the future of the basic? again with less funding to go around, is it realistic to continue the current operation at the basic? hochul: absolutely, and that is what has him of the house armed services committee i had the

opportunity work with republicans and democrats and have an amendment passed not just by the committee of by the entire house of representatives that protects database. in addition, secretary panetta said he was committed to that base. what we need to do is find a new mission, intelligence, reconnaissance surveillance. cybersecurity, drone strikes. with so many more things we can do you. what we have to do is transition to the military of the future. will have a $6 billion simulator so people can come into our area to train with our exciting things happening with our existing mission. i have said that's not good enough. we've got to find a new mission to make sure that we become part of a leaner, better military future. sequestration is not going to happen, i can tell you right now that that was brent mentioned as for the we could make your act together last summer, and i supported $2.4 trillion cut in our deficit.

i believe after this election will get back together, people -- their heads will prevail and will get the job done. collins: the sequestration is a threat to the united states but i agree i do not believe it's going to go for. now be some solution between election in january 1. what i will say there is a solution for the niagara falls air force base and we do have c-130s, the mission is c-130s. that simulator she just referred to is not coming there unless we get more planes. there's 16 c-130s in schenectady that are controlled by governor cuomo and the national guard. we need the government to commit moving the 16th c-130s to join with the 12 that are there right now giving us 20 c-130s, then the simulated comes to niagara falls. the future of the base is secure there is a solution, a real solution, not just happy talk. >> okay. i'd like to get back to health

care. since this is a pretty hot topic, quite clearly in this race and across the nation. ms. collins, d. you already said tonight as you said in many occasions that you want to repeal obamacare. what specifically would you support in its place and how could you ensure that health care coverage is available to everyone in a district in new york at large, and then it is affordable? collins: very simply put, you can't let perfect be the enemy of good. so let's go back a couple years. the health care system in the united states, the best and welcome better than your, better than candid. as evidenced by all the canadians come across the border to get health care they can get in. we are the best in the world. is a perfect? no, but you can't let perfect be the enemy of good. obama to make our health care disastrous. disaster for the economy. disaster for my mom was dependent on medicare advantage which is already having funding cuts. what it's all said and done is not going to be medicare

advantage anywhere close to what we know today. so sure we can at the 26 year old defense policy, a very easy fix. but what's going on in obamacare now is going to mean we never have a balanced budget. it's going to mean small business does not grow and we have to start growing this economy. so i'm saying what we have is the best in the world, we can tweak it, we can make a better. we need toward reforms would on all this defensive medicine using the sum state 30% of our daughters. but you don't let any be the perfect a good. >> just to be clear you support return to the system as it was because you have said in the past that you would be opened reform but it sounds like which are suggesting is around the edges and not significant over all wholesale speech that is correct or do not believe in a government takeover of health care but i do believe toward reform is absolutely needed. what we had was the best in the world. you don't let perfect be the enemy of good and end up with

awful. >> congresswoman? hochul: that's a rather extreme position to say there's no way to improve our health care system, no way we can be adding more people. is nowhere we should be working to get the cost of health care under control, huge driver of cost for our businesses. mitt romney is going to look at opportunity make sure we do it right. so that's even more extreme than i for before. we have to look at, move on. of our effort to repeal the medical device tax because it would be a burden on our locales but i want to go back and look at the threshold for small business. but what i won't do is to chris collins says, do young people off the parents plan to people with existing conditions would no longer be covered. but don't hold be reopened for seniors in western europe with him of $700 more a year or the prescription drug. we can do better. i put this country can do better. >> mr. collins, did you back say

you would support allowing young people to remain on their parents insurance? collins: absolute. that's what ms. hochul distorts my answer's pretty continuously. but i'd also like to point out that she says she's going to vote to repeal this or that, seven and $16 billion cut to medicare and my moms medicare advantage when she talks about the medical device tax, she doesn't like and changing this and that your that is the only reason obamacare is even close to being balanced is raising taxes and fees. ms. hochul, you cannot take these pieces out and still have obamacare. obamacare has to go and that's a big difference in you and i in this campaign. >> we are going to get to medicare. go ahead thank you, chris, i told sometimes, i do not support $716 billion in cuts to medicare. it's the leadership and conduct the republican leadership would sit at a loss to come back to washington have an up or down

vote on that i would vote no and you know the. i've said before. the reason they don't do that is because that's part of the ryan budget. i voted twice against the ryan budget therefore voted twice against those cuts in the morning to do a third time. republican leadership didn't want to keep that in the pocket. medicare advantage is going under the current plan. more people being covered under obama can do not. so don't come up with this -- there's no fact behind it. >> we are going to move to medicare. collins: very quickly, you can't take seven and $16 billion out of obamacare and have obamacare. ms. hochul think she can take the seven of $16 billion out and still have obamacare. ms. hochul, you can't do that if you're being very disingenuous with the viewers. to even suggest that. >> moving on to our next question for the congresswoman, negotiations over the reauthorization of the federal farm bill has been put on hold. critics say too much of the funding supports food stamps. do you support the farm bill and

its current form? hochul: absolutely. the nature of congress, we're supposed to compromise, the senate passed the farm bill. bipartisan farm bill before the left. the house agriculture committee passed the farm bill. when it came time for the house to do its job, and simply didn't come up with a bill that would split the difference, that's a compromise is all about. but instead the leadership in washington send a backward districts the earliest time since 1960 when i was in for congress and said listen, if our farmers do their jobs, the way congress is doing their job, we would all start. they want to know if the programs they've been relying on will continue, and if there's a difference in the measure we want for food stamps between house and senate version, you split the difference. that's what's wrong with congress, and i note the farmers adopt all of the district do not believe congress did not do his job. i go back today to give them certain. not a short-term extension which chris collins said would be --

give them five years. they need five years to be able to plan. >> a short time solution? collins: ms. hochul consistently mistakes my position. we need a short-term solution at least a we continue this. there's no way in the next six weeks after the election the farm bill is going to be passed when the sequestration and other things but what i'm saying is let's get something so there's something moving forward into next year in the new congress let's get it done for five years. we need the five year deal but we need something which we can have by december 31. and as a member of congress in the majority after the beginning of the year, there's a big difference for the viewers should understand, as your congressman i will be in the majority come in the room where decisions are made. ms. hochul is an ineffective in a row primarily because she's not in the room where decisions are being made. ladies and gentlemen, that is a huge difference. >> is there at all a problem

with the spending bill as it is currently designed? collins: with the farm bill rex spring summer public is at issue -- traffic i have issues with the fact with food stamps which are 80% of the cost. the $500 billion bill, 400 billion is food stamps. with more american than food stamps than ever because president obama, his policies were but ms. hochul can't get the economy moving. they should not be put together and we do need to reduce food stamps at the would reduce it is we get people working and growing our economy. president obama has failed this country on an economic basis as evidenced by $16 trillion of debt and the unemployment that just won't go away spent i think we do need a brief rebuttal. trying to basically, crisco you're saying you're willing to go to congress, said with extreme side of the aisle and hold our farmers hostage because it didn't go to compromise.

there is an answer to get split the difference between house bill and the senate bill. you think i'm an effective legislator, chris. i encourage you to go to niagara falls airbase and talk to the first person you see and see whether my efforts in washington have been effective transit i have and they say they are not. >> okay. mr. called him this question is on taxes and it is for you. i believe have signed grover norquist pledge not to raise taxes if and when you do get to washington, correct? and it's a hard and fast no tax raises, very. you did preside over a budget that you did go to court inside the legislature to raise property tax. so between that point and this point, you changed your thinking on taxes, or do you see some sort of difference between local

taxes and taxes when you discuss them at the d.c. level? collins: my roll is written as a role in congress to as county executive on record have a balanced budget that i took over a county that had was effectively bankrupt with new york state running our finance. when you look at the fact with no money in the bank, i medicaid goes up to $1 a year which we have no control over. with no control over pension. we have no control over the amount of sales tax were going to click and with no control over the value of our real estate. a county executive has to manage playing the card she is dealt, and in this case taken over county with the hard control board and the honest with voters can i say where going to have to have a very small property tax increase to get this county back in the right direction. that was a. the next three years, no tax increases but i do for your plan that was approved by the fiscal stability of 40 for the next four years, no tax increases. but i took over a mess but i had to be honest with the taxpayers and that was a very, very small

increase. i guess i'm out of time but i beheaded after the second part of that if you want me to continue. >> to follow, is a situation that you can see where you get to washington and look at the situation, particularly what comes to debt, deficit reduction and a supposed you that may or may not be reached come and be able to say the reality here is that tax increases have to be a part of this discussion? collins: no. tax increases don't have to be a part of the discussion. we need for small business and for our crop farmers and dairy farmers to more money to investigate the economy growing 4%. unique tax increases under the obama-holcombe plan. if economy is not growing, they keep saying taxes and spend, tax-and-spend. we need to grow the economy. mitt romney will get done. i will be working with mitt romney to get this economy moving to get the job we need. it's not more tax. we have a spending problem in

washington. it's not a revenue problem. ms. hochul thinks it's a revenue problem. >> congresswoman? trendy where do i begin? first, you can't wave a magic wand and say the economy is working again. there's a lot of policies that to go in place first. we have a $16 trillion debt in this country. it is crushing our young people and the next generation. i support a balanced budget amendment. i support $2.4 trillion cut but i won't do is blow up another trillion dollars hold them at all refuge deficit by allowing tax breaks for millionaires and that is to continue. chris, when you sign the pledge, which it did -- he went to court, of course not a small deficit, 6% increase. the second largest in a decade you're trying to force of almost over already paying for that every time we open our bills. you sign a pledge, and now you're pledging -- [inaudible] i have a problem with that. collins: here's my pledge.

i'm going to work in a majority in congress to make sure 100% of the time i'm standing for small business, not 50% like ms. hochul. that 1% of them understand with seniors, unlike ms. hochul who's cutting medicare today. that 100% of the i'm fighting for our children and grandchildren, and that $16 trillion in deficits is caused by president obama over the last four years, and you support his policies that don't work. economy has stalled, more people unemployed than ever. the economy is not going where it needs to go so you're right, that's $16,000 of debt caused by president obama is what a strangling us today. >> you want a quick response? kind i guess amnesia is spreading all over the country. there were eight using a depressed obama and our debt when exponentially out of control. they were too unfounded wars, very expensive prescription benefit of you have chemistry

your willingness to raise taxes. you want to do and county taxpayerscan you sign this pledge down to washington so this is how -- we need to look closely at trinity let's be clear. i've never called for privatizing medicare. i've never support anything in the ryan budget what you distort what i said. that's what you do, ms. hochul, you distort what people say to suit your own needs or your own purposes. what i said was the ryan budget did before enough to getting as a balanced budget the next 10 years. mitt romney agrees with it. we need to balance budget. i've never said anything related to the ryan budget and medicare and no one here who has not voted to cut medicare for current changes, including my 85 year old mom. as medicare advantage is now in jeopardy. >> trench of the largest part of

the ryan budget cuts are to medicare. when you said the ryan budget did not go far enough, my question is, how far will you go? where are you going to find the money? he won't raise a dime a companies that ship jobs overseas but you won't raise a dime on millionaires and billionaires. what is a come from, chris? times are tough. we have to be fiscally conservative. i'm the fiscal conservative stand on the stage. there's one way to do it and it is tough decisions we have to make. >> for second time we'll cut it out there but we will get back to the budget discussion just momentarily actually. spent its time do what we call cross examination and where we let the candidates ask each other a question. mr. collins has the opportunity to go first. collins: ms. hochul from winning again you're defending president obama and stale policies over the last four years to have careers $6 trillion of new debt come and what it got to ask you is with all the